Class 10 · Computing and AI literacy
What is that app allowed to know?
A torch app wants your contacts and your location. Why would a torch need to know who your friends are?
What you will learn: Judge whether app permissions are needed for what the app does.
Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓
Jump to: Check yourself · For grown-ups · For teachers
Safety first
Only your own phone, with a grown-up.
Keep it safe:
- Do not change settings on anyone else's phone.
- If you look at your own phone, do it with a grown-up.
You will need
- The made-up app screens on this pageNo phone needed.
- Paper and pencil
Time: About 35 minutes.
The story
Tanmay downloads a free torch app. A box pops up: "Allow access to your contacts and location?" His finger is over "Allow". Dhruv asks, "Why would a torch need to know who your friends are, or where you are?" What should an app be allowed to know?
The idea
Apps ask for permissions: access to things like your camera, location, contacts or microphone.
An app should ask only for what its features need. A map needs your location; a torch needs only the camera flash.
A permission the features do not need is a warning sign. The app might collect data to sell or share.
You can usually deny a permission, or allow it only while the app is in use. Decide for your own phone, and never change settings on someone else's phone.
Worked example
Checking a made-up torch app
- The torch asks for: camera flash, contacts, location.
- Feature: light. It needs the flash, nothing else.
- Contacts and location: not needed. Deny both.
- Warning sign noted: why would a torch want them?
Allow the flash. Deny contacts and location. Be wary of the app.
Try it
List the features.
For each made-up app, what does it do?
List the permissions.
What does it ask for?
Match them.
Does a feature need each permission? Yes or no.
Decide.
Allow, allow while using, or deny.
Spot warning signs.
Circle any permission that no feature needs.
What you make (paper or offline)
Your permission table
A table for three apps: features, permissions, needed or not.
A decision for each permission.
The warning signs you circled.
Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.
Check yourself
Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.
See the answer and why
- A. Allow it and share it with friends too Not this one. Sharing contacts would spread other people's details.
- B. Deny it: a torch does not need contacts Correct. No torch feature uses your contacts.
- C. Allow it, or the light will be dimmer Not this one. Contacts have nothing to do with the light.
- D. Allow it, because all apps need contacts Not this one. Most apps do not need contacts.
See the answer and why
- A. Location Correct. It must know where you are to give directions from there.
- B. Contacts Not this one. Directions do not need your contacts.
- C. Photos Not this one. Directions do not need your photos.
- D. Microphone Not this one. Typed directions do not need the microphone.
See the answer and why
- A. It asks for the camera to scan a code Not this one. Scanning needs the camera, so that is expected.
- B. It uses a dark colour theme Not this one. Colours are not a privacy concern.
- C. It has a short name Not this one. Names say nothing about permissions.
- D. It asks for permissions its features do not need Correct. Unneeded permissions may mean data collection.
See the answer and why
- A. Allow everything so it works Not this one. It works without the microphone.
- B. Allow it, because photos make sounds Not this one. Photos are images. They do not record sound.
- C. Deny the microphone and allow photo access Correct. Editing photos needs photos, not the microphone.
- D. Deny photo access too Not this one. Then it could not edit your photos.
See the answer and why
- A. Change their settings when they are not looking Not this one. Never change settings on someone else's phone.
- B. Ignore it, because location is never sensitive Not this one. Location can reveal where someone lives and goes.
- C. Delete the app for them Not this one. That is their decision, not yours.
- D. Tell your friend, and let them decide Correct. It is their phone and their decision.
Think back
Which permission surprised you most?
Why might an app want data it does not need?
Investigate further
- With a grown-up, check the permissions of two apps on a family phone.
- Design a permission request that explains clearly why the app needs it.
For grown-upsTap a heading to open it. The safety notes are at the top of the page.
Before you start
- Optional: look at the permissions on your own phone together.
Questions that help
- "Which feature needs that?"
- "What could someone do with that information?"
What's really going on
Permission checking is a practical privacy habit. Many apps request more than they need.
"Allow while using" limits background data collection.
Other ways to do it
- Draw your own made-up app and decide what it should be allowed to know.
For teachersLearning aims, classroom ideas and what to look for.
Learning aims
- Match app permissions to features.
- Make and justify privacy decisions.
Subject links
- Computing: privacy and security.
- Social science: rights and consent.
These links are general. They have not been checked against a specific board syllabus.
In the classroom
- Groups design a made-up app and its minimum permissions; others check them.
What to look for
- Each permission matched to a feature.
- Respects others' devices.